Watercolour, copy after The Nativity of the Virgin, Andrea del Sarto in the Chiostro dei Voti (Santissima Annunziata, Florence), Christian Shultz, Arundel Society watercolour, 1864

Watercolour drawing

Museum acquisition in 1995, from the National Gallery of Art, London.
Watercolour copy made for the Arundel society and published in 1866 as a chromolitograph (inv. 21400).

This painting in watercolour and bodycolour is a copy made in 1864 for the Arundel Society by Christian Schultz (1817-1882/3) after the fresco representing the Nativity of the Virgin by Andrea del Sarto (1486-1530).

Original work
Andrea del Sarto was the leading painter in Florence in the early years of the sixteenth century. Between 1509 and 1514, he painted seven lunette frescoes for the religious order of the Servi di Maria in the atrium of the church of their convent, Santissima Annunziata, the so-called Chiostro, or Chiostrino, dei Voti. Five of his frescoes represents events of the Life of St Filippo Benizi [see Mariannecci’s copy after St Filippo Benizi healing Children (1509-10); Museum no. E.272-1995], while the other two painted at last represent the Procession of the Magi (1511) [see Mariannecci’s copy; Museum no. E.274-1995] and the Nativity of the Virgin (1513-1514). Other famous painters of the period collaborated on this twelve fresco cycle, painting one lunette each: Alessio Baldovinetti (Adoration of the Shepherds, 1463), Cosimo Rosselli (Vocation of St. Filipo Benizi, 1476), Franciabigio (Marriage of the Virgin, 1513), Pontormo (Visitation, 1514-16) and Rosso Fiorentino (Assumption of the Virgin, 1517).

Andrea del Sarto'S art had a considerable influence on Florentine painting in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The image of an exceptionally gifted artist but of a timid nature and a spoiled destiny was created by his first biographer, Giorgio Vasari (1511-1574). It was perpetuated along the centuries and found an strong echo in romantic nineteenth century fantasy, inspiring literature works such as a play by Alfred de Musset (Andrea del Sarto, 1833) or a dramatic monologue by Robert Browning (Andrea del Sarto, 1855).

Vasari had also called him the ‘faultless’ painter. Although this was considered with positive value in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth centuries, in the Nineteenth century it was connoted as too academic. Moreover, at this time, the poor state of conservation of Del Sarto’s fresco and panel paintings did not help the valuation of his work and he was mainly considered, alongside Fra Bartolommeo, as a follower of the Florentine High Renaissance painters. It explains why only seven of his works were copied by the Arundel Society compared to the numerous copies after Fra Angelico, Benozzo Gozzoli or Giotto.


Arundel Society
The Arundel Society was founded in 1848 to promote knowledge of the art through the publication of reproductions of works of art. The Society was named after Thomas Howard, 2nd Earl of Arundel (1585-1646), important aristocratic patron and collector of the early Stuart period. The Society was intended to reach the largest possible audience through these reproductions. Subjects were chosen because of their instructive meaning rather than their popularity. In addition to copies of famous paintings, the Society published an English translation of Giorgio Vasari’s (1511-1574) Lives of the most excellent painters, made in 1850 by Giovanni Aubrey Bezzi (1785-1789), one of the founding members of the Society.

The Arundel Society popularised Renaissance art, particularly that of the Italian Old Masters, echoing a growing interest for ‘primitives’ in the second half of the nineteenth century. The founding members of the Arundel Society were all acknowledge experts on Italian art. For instance, Sir Charles Eastlake (1793–1865; painter and art administrator), whose house was the meeting point of the Society, was Director of the National Gallery in London from 1855 until 1865 and during his tenure, he began one of the finest collections of Italian art in Britain.

Other preeminent members were John Ruskin (1819-1900, English writer, painter and collector), who supervised projects including the watercolours series of the Upper and Lower Church in Assisi, and Sir Austen H. Layard (1817-1894; English archaeologist, politician, diplomat, collector and writer). Layard lived and travelled in Italy for many years and his knowledge of the country’s art was extensive. It was thanks to Layard’s funding that the Society were able to publish copies of the watercolours made at their direction using chromolithography. Although photography was increasingly popular, as photographs could only be made in black and white, chromolithography was chosen as it was felt to be closer to the principals of the Arundel Society: they were coloured and had the aura of traditional prints. In this way, copies were more like the originals.

The Society reached the height of its popularity in the 1860s. However, by the end of the century, it faced mounting criticism with regards to the accuracy of its watercolour copies. The Society ceased its activities in 1897. At this time the availability of second hand prints had increased and the Society found it difficult to find market for its chromolithographs. Moreover, photographic reproductions were becoming increasingly popular thanks to technical advances. The last display of the Arundel Society’s watercolours took place at the National Gallery and when the Society was dissolved, some watercolours were given to that Institution, while others were acquired by the then South Kensington Museum (now V&A). The outstanding watercolours were transferred from the National Gallery to the V&A in the 1990s.

Copyist
Christian Schultz's copy after Andrea del Sarto's Nativity of the Virgin was displayed to the Arundel Society's members at the annual general meeting of 1864 with two other copies made in Florence: Ghirlandaio's Last Supper (Cenacolo di Ognissanti) and Fra Angelico's Crucifixion (San Marco), both now in the V&A collection (Museum no. E.106-1995 and E.7-1995). These were the first copies made by Shultz for the Arundel Society and they met such approval that Cesare Mariannecci (c.1819 - c.1894), one of the main and most prolific copyists for the Society, was then requested to imitate Schultz’s technique (Ledger, A Study of the Arundel Society 1848-1897, 1978, p. 108). The Nativity of the Virgin was printed as a chromolithograph by the French firm Imprimerie Lemercier and distributed in 1866, as an Arundel Society’s Occasional publication (Museum no. 21400).
Schultz had been asked to copy the frescoes in their current damaged state. His technique was very different from the watercolours made by the other artists copying for the Arundel Society. He painted not with translucent watercolour, but instead with thick mixed technique of watercolour and bodycolour over vellum. However, Schultz’s technique was not the most appropriate for the reproduction of Italian frescoes and he subsequently dedicated himself to the copying of German and Flemish panel paintings (for example Museum no. E.10-1995 after Van Dyck).

This watercolour is a copy made in 1864 by Christian Schultz (1817-1882/3) after Andrea del Sarto’s fresco Nativity of the Virgin. The copy was commissioned by the Arundel Society. Founded in 1848, the society commissioned and published reproductions like this one in order to promote knowledge of the art European Old Masters. A chromolithograph after this copy was published in 1866 (Museum no. 21400)
The original fresco is located in the Chiostro dei voti in the church of Santissima Annunziata in Florence. It was painted in 1513-14 by Andrea del Sarto (1486-1530) and belongs to a cycle of twelve arch-topped frescoes made by some of the most important Florentine painters of the time.

E.273-1995